Technologies, issues and policies for sustainable mobility.

June 2016

June 30, 2016

Elio Motors, the start-up vehicle manufacturer planning to launch a three-wheeled vehicle that will get up to 84 mpg (2.8 l/100km) with a targeted base price of $6,800, has completed its first E-Series testing vehicle, code-named the E1A.

Management consulting firm Zinnov released its latest study conducted on the Automotive R&D Globalization Landscape, presenting a global engineering R&D analysis on the top 60 automotive companies and how are they leveraging the global R&D ecosystems to improve engineering output and efficiency.

In a new report, Navigant Research forecasts that plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) sales in the US and Canada in 2016 will near 200,000 unit sales, growing by around 62% year-over-year. Navigant further expects significant growth in the North American PEV market over the next few years.

In 2016, Navigant Research expects growth to come from expanding sales of the Tesla Model X and the second-generation Volt, as well as the introduction of the Chevrolet Bolt 200-mile range battery electric vehicle (BEV), the Prius Prime PHEV, the Chrysler Pacifica PHEV, and the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV later in the year.

The combination of connectivity, automation plus shared vehicle ownership and use has the potential to make car travel greener and cheaper, cutting energy use and helping accelerate the introduction of low carbon vehicles. However, these energy and carbon benefits are by no means guaranteed and will require strategic policy interventions to maximize them according to new report by the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) at the University of Leeds, commissioned by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).

The study—Automated vehicles; Automatically low carbon?— was presented at the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership Conference at the Olympic Park in London. According to the study, better coordination and connectivity between vehicles and infrastructure is likely to improve energy efficiency, as well as potentially make road transport safer and quicker.

Electric vehicles (EVs) will need to increase their combined market share to 16% by 2020 for markets to achieve the aggressive fuel economy standards set by regulators, according to new research by the World Energy Council, the UN-accredited global energy body representing the entire energy spectrum.

While EVs currently represent less than 1% combined market share across the world’s largest markets for new passenger cars, they should be considered central to any policy and technology portfolio designed to lower transport emissions, WEC said.

As one of the outcomes of the “Three Amigos” meeting in Ottawa, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US President Barack Obama, and Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto committed to an “ambitious and enduring” North American Climate, Clean Energy, and Environment Partnership. A key element of that partnership is a goal for North America to strive to achieve 50% clean power generation by 2025.

The action plan also encompasses a range of initiatives, including a focus on clean transportation. As part of that effort, the leaders committed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from light- and heavy-duty vehicles by aligning fuel efficiency and/or GHG emission standards out to 2025 and 2027, respectively. They further agreed to reduce air pollutant emissions by aligning air pollutant emission standards for light- and heavy-duty vehicles and corresponding ultra low-sulfur fuel standards by 2018. In addition, the SmartWay freight transportation program will be extended to Mexico.

WABCO Holdings and ZF have developed and demonstrated a prototype of a new collision avoidance technology for commercial vehicles. The Evasive Maneuver Assist (EMA) combines WABCO’s world-class braking, stability and vehicle dynamics control systems on trucks and trailers with ZF’s active steering technology—an industry first. EMA marks another step toward enabling autonomous driving in the commercial vehicle industry.

Evasive Maneuver Assist leverages the capabilities of WABCO’s OnGuardACTIVE, its radar-only collision mitigation system. A radar sensor identifies moving or stationary vehicles ahead and alerts the driver via visual, audio and haptic signals of impending rear-end collisions. Should the driver determine that the system cannot avoid a rear-end collision by driver-initiated or autonomous braking alone, Evasive Maneuver Assist engages to help the driver to safely steer around an obstructing vehicle and to bring truck and trailer to a complete and safe stop.

Nemaska Lithium has received its second $2.12-million installment from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) for the development of the Phase 1 Lithium Hydroxide Plant. To date, the company has received a total of approximately $21 million, representing about 55% of the total $38-million Phase 1 Plant budget,said Steve Nadeau, Nemaska Lithium CFO.

Powin Energy, a designer and developer of safe and scalable energy storage solutions for utilities, C&I, and EV fast-charging stations, is publicly introducing its advanced battery management software—the Battery Pack Operating System (bp-OS)—by announcing that it has been patented (US20140015469 A1).

The patented bp-OS utilizes a unique algorithm to balance batteries actively and passively down to the cell level, enabling the minimization of voltage differentials across all battery cells over the system’s lifetime. The bp-OS also delivers visibility into battery health through real-time battery monitoring, state-of-charge management, and detailed diagnostics to ensure safety, optimize performance, and extend the operational lifetime of batteries used in stationary storage systems and EV fast-charging systems.